


Is This Your Card?

by Sigery97



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: At one detective is very gay, Attempted Murder, Depressed!Shinichi, Depression, F/F, It might be his kink having detectives on his ass, It's gonna get a bit weird in chapter 4 because of said magic au ness, Kaito is very gay and wants to date detectives, Kaito might have PTSD, M/M, Magic AU, Other one is probably bi, Post Shinichi return, Probably gonna be alot of gay ships actually, Slow Build?, then it will go downhill with magic, you have been warned now
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-04-11
Updated: 2016-05-21
Packaged: 2018-06-01 14:50:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6524569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sigery97/pseuds/Sigery97
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kaito finds out an easier way to find Pandora. Okay not easier, but more direct than just stealing gems and checking. However he needs to find three other people who are willing to help him to get the magic rolling.</p><p>*Rating may change.<br/>Summary is supposed to be vague as well</p><p>Current standing of pairings (as of chapter 9):<br/>Hakuba is pining for Kaito.<br/>Kaito is pining for Shinichi.<br/>Kaito also generally turns to Hakuba for advice and comfort, aka he really trusts him and might like him as well.<br/>Shinichi doesn't understand the line between friendship and romance... this might take a while<br/>So HakuKai and KaiShin undertones till further notice.</p><p>Also platonic Kaito and Aoko. Because they are adorable</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Things seem pretty good right now

**Author's Note:**

> Two first chapters will probably be mostly just establishing the verse before anything actually begins... also realized the first chapter has no dialogue... oops

Kaito was standing on the roof, watching the police march out a number of people, all of them dressed in black. He let his eyes wander back to Conan who stood off to the side. Ran was next to him, gripping the not-child’s hand tightly. Kaito assumed she had been told or was on the verge of figuring it out herself. The Black Organization had been taken down. They weren't destroyed yet, there was still a good handful that escaped the crackdown. However, for the most part, Conan was safe to return to Shinichi.

Conan had looked up, spotting Kaito on the roof. He mouthed two words; thank you. Kaito gave him a nod before he disappeared from the not-child’s line of sight. He was feeling tired. It had been a long day, but worthwhile.

Conan had started planning to take the Organization down a couple weeks ago, getting some help from everyone’s favorite teen detectives as well as Ai and Professor Agasa. Kaito surprised everyone when he showed up and offered his services, as long as the group promised not to arrest him till after the Organization was dealt with. Having an expert thief and master of disguise was helpful to say the least.

Kaito was just excited to have Shinichi be able to come to his heists without a babysitter and actually be able to participate for once without being held back by his appearance. Changing his suit for a police uniform, he walked down the stairs to the organized chaos. He caught Hakuba’s eye, winking before Kaito casually left the scene.

\---

_ Gems are a priceless item, for their beauty, and for what they could grant. One could grant immorality. Several others would be used to control certain weather patterns or grant powers such as invisibility and flight. Some gems could be used to summon gods or spirits. However, most gems had lost their luster of power. Then they could only be priced for their beautiful shells. Not all gems had though; and there were people out there who knew about the powers. People who would kill for that power. _

_ Not all hope was lost though. Most of the world that knew of the power of gems, didn’t know the proper way to find the gems they seek. No one would know the proper way unless they proved themselves worthy. Of course it was still possible to find the remaining gems with power if you looked longer enough, but it would probably take generations at least. _

_ So are you worthy? _

Kaito jolted up in bed, panting. He had been having dreams like that over and over. He didn’t know whether to believe it or assume it was just stress. He had been Kid the phantom thief for two years now and he was on the verge of graduation from high school. Plus, he was worrying about Tantei-kun, who had been cured of his child form. So far, Shinichi seemed to be fine, but that didn’t ease Kaito at all.

With a groan, he realized he worked himself up and probably wouldn’t be falling back asleep for a while. He slid out of the covers to his laptop. Might as well research his next target, a Sugilite coming to Japan for an exhibit.

\---

Kaito was already in the building, waiting in the vents for the appointed time to come. Inspector Nakamori had guards at every entrance and exit as well as the roof. There was about a dozen people in the room with the gem, four of them surrounding the case. The others were guarding the door and windows. Kaito had to grin a bit when he saw one of the guards glanced at one of the vents, though it wasn’t his hiding spot. At least he had the right idea.

As the clock turned to 9pm, smoke bombs dropped from the ceiling, filling the room with a fog. Kaito dropped into the room, headed straight to the case. He heard some of the other guards coming to the case as well, probably for a dogpile. Kaito stopped, waiting for the sound of contact came. Then he hopped onto the case. The smoke was thinning out at this point, but Kaito had cut the glass earlier. He popped the glass off, grabbing the jewel.

The smoke had thinned out that Kaito could see Inspector Nakomori’s glare focused on him as well as the mess of limbs on the floor. “Thanks for the jewel,” Kaito winked before jumping off the case. He broke the window with his shoulder, swinging up to the shadowed ledge above the window. His dummy dropped a couple yards before the hang glider delay ended. The crowd went crazy as the decoy flew over them.

Kaito waited as the guards and Inspector Nakamori rushed out of the gem room with pounding footsteps. He clicked his earpiece back on, listening to Nakamori yell out orders. He was smart enough to leave some guards at the museum, specifically on the roof. Which was fine by Kaito.

He climbed up the building a story, and moved a couple windows down. The lock on the window was easily picked, and Kid was back in the building. He snuck through the building, avoiding any remaining guards. He found a window facing the street where the crowd was, and the police were packing into their rides.

Kaito couldn’t help but sigh. Hakuba was back in England for the rest of the month and Shinichi was ‘avoiding’ him (2 months now and even with a personal invitation mind you). He loved his 2nd division, but they didn’t give him the same challenge that he got from facing the genius teens. He watched the police cars race down the street after his decoy. Why the police always fell for his obvious and repeated tricks, he didn’t understand.

Shaking his head, he walked away from the front window towards his room he booked for the couple days. It was a big suite and expensive, but it had a balcony. He grabbed himself a water bottle, chugging half of it before walking outside again.

Reaching into his jacket, he pulled the stolen gem out. The gem in question was about the size of his fist, a sparkling dark purple color. He held it up to the moonlight. Of course there was no Pandora. However, with a second look Kaito noticed something else. There was a black shape in the center of the egg that was highlighted by the light coursing through the purple jewel. It wasn’t the Pandora, but looking over it at home might be a good idea, just in case. Tucking the gem back in his jacket pocket, he opened up his hang glider to fly home.

\---

Kaito had left the gem alone till he returned from school the following day. He studied the gem for a while; looking at it from all angles and testing the visibility of the inner black gem. He found the black gem could only be seen if light was directly shined at the middle of the gem. Kaito wanted to think this gem had to mean something, having a smaller gem in the bigger piece, similar to Pandora’s legend. Maybe it could be a clue or something.

Kaito sighed, letting his head drop onto the table. 2 years in, and he had nothing to show for. He was no closer to Pandora than he was when he found Jii on the roof and took up the mantle of Kid.


	2. Kaito is an excellent manipulator

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title says it all

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Implied lesbians... and Kaito, he is a warning himself.

Saguru was surprised to say the least when Kaito was sitting in his seat when he got to school. No one else in the room was questioning it though, not even Aoko.

“Hello Kuroba,” Saguru said as he approached his seat.

The blue eyed teen quickly turned his head to see the British transfer student, with a slight pout. “Saguru,” he responded, letting the name slid across his lips slowly.

Saguru muttered something before calling Kaito by his first name, making that pout disappear. The magician got up from his seat, returning to his own. Saguru really didn’t want to sit down though, Kaito hadn’t been happy about Saguru leaving earlier that month. He didn’t want to think about what kind of prank would happen if he wasn’t careful. He would have to remember to be cautious for the next few days.

Class was starting in a couple minutes though, so hesitantly Saguru sat down. Nothing happened. Kaito did look at him over his shoulder and smirk. The magician knew he was expecting something. Saguru could only hope it came quickly or he would be worrying about it for a while. Kaito wasn’t afraid to pull whatever he wanted since Saguru said he wouldn’t pursue the phantom thief outside of heists.

The teacher talked for a little while, before leaving the remainder of the period to self-study. Saguru was immediately surrounded by Akako and Aoko while Kaito appeared to be studying, which Saguru highly doubted. “Did you call Kaito at all?” Aoko asked, arms crossed. Okay, maybe pranks weren’t his only concern.

“I was a bit busy-” was all Saguru got out before Akako sighed loudly.

“Boys,” she muttered. “Hakuba, I’m sure you are aware of Kaito’s... attachment to you.”

“To an extent,” Saguru answered, the gears in his head turning.

“Kaito gets along with everyone... but knowing you only a little over a year, and he is just as attached to you as he is to me, which took nine years,” Aoko said.

What was she getting at? “He mostly enjoys teasing me,” the detective said.

“He teases everyone. But he teases you differently,” Akako pointed out.

Saguru wanted to point out they were on opposite sides of the law, so of course he got teased a bit differently; but he couldn’t tell either of the girls now. Instead he told them “I would assume I’m one of his close male friends, so he would tease me differently than his childhood friend.”

Aoko didn’t look convinced. “Right,” she said, sarcasm dripping in her voice.

“Are boys always this oblivious?” Akako asked, rolling her eyes. Then she walked off to the back of the classroom, Aoko following a couple steps behind. They settled down to study together, leaving Saguru confused. Glancing at Kaito just earned him a cock of the head and a tongue sticking out at him before being ignored again.

\---

“Saguru!” the blonde in question stopped. Kaito half pounced on him, arms around his neck. “Nothing important this afternoon?” Saguru wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be a statement or a question.

“Nothing,” he sighed. “Do you want something?”

“You owe me ice cream for ditching me,” Kaito declared.

“I had to go back to England for a couple weeks.” Saguru said. Kaito frowned before Saguru continued. “Besides if I had given you advance notice, you would have had time to plan a way to keep me in the country.”

“No-”

“Shinichi mentioned how many planes you have hijacked or stowed away on.”

“…” Kaito didn’t have a response for that.

“But I guess ice cream is fine,” Saguru gave in. The thief grinned. The detective just thought about how far he had fallen, hanging out with a thief and even buying him food. Kaito was lucky he was cute- err had a decent reason for being a thief. Okay it was partially a revenge thing, but Kaito had some other good intentions.

Saguru let Kaito tug him down the street, guiding him to the magician’s preferred ice cream parlor. He had a small smile, as much of a rival Kaito was, Saguru would still call him a very good friend. He was fine with giving Kaito some time to relax a bit more between the impending graduation and the mostly bimonthly heists.

Kaito got a double scoop of chocolate ice cream while Saguru got a single scoop of vanilla (Kaito had booed rather loudly, making some junior high girls giggled). They ate while walking towards the nearby park, walking rather closely that their unoccupied hands brush occasionally. They didn’t talk much, but it was a comfortable silence.

The silence was interrupted by a yell and a soccer ball rolled in front of the high school students. Kaito kicked the ball up on his foot before punting it over towards a freckled boy running over to them. “Thank you-” the boy stopped, staring at Kaito. His eyebrow ruffled in confusion. Kaito stared back, trying to remember where he had seen the boy from.

“ Mitsuhiko, did you get the ball? ” Kaito couldn’t help but smiling when he heard that voice. Shinichi came into view, with a girl and boy trailing behind him. The Detective Boys, Kaito recalled as he forced his smile away. “Hakuba,” Shinichi took notice of them.

“Kudo,” Saguru said, like it was a greeting.

“What are you doing here?” Shinichi asked, as Mitsuhiko picked up the ball to walk back over to the blue eyed detective.

“And who is he?” Ayumi asked, pointing at Kaito.

“Hanging out with Kaito, a classmate of mine,” Saguru told them, though he immediately got elbowed in the side.

“Classmate?” Kaito feinted dramatically, “And here I thought I was your best friend, other than Watson.”

Saguru shook his head and amended his statement, “Kaito, my annoying friend.” Kaito grinned, giving Saguru a side hug. He didn’t particularly care about the ‘annoying’ part.

“And you guys?” Kaito asked, still half hanging on Saguru.

“Shinichi Kudo-”

“The other Holmes geek!” Kaito cut him off.

Saguru just raised his hand to cover Kaito’s mouth. “Ignore him.”

The elementary children looked at each other and the two teens practically twisted in an embrace before Ayumi started. “Ayumi Yoshida.” “Mitsuhiko Tsuburaya.” “Genta Kojima, leader of the Detective boys with these two.”

“They are adorable Saguru,” Kaito mumbled into his friend’s hand. “Also I will lick you,” he added and Saguru dropped his hand.

“Very nice to meet you,” Saguru told the children. “and nice to see you again Kudo.”

“Likewise,” Shinichi replied. Then he followed the kids back into the park, glancing at Kaito for a moment before he was gone.

“Invite him to the next heist please,” Kaito said.

“We will see,” Saguru replied, going to lick his ice cream only to find it pink. “… When did you switch them?”

“Strawberry tastes better than vanilla,” Kaito shrugged as he turned to walk back the way they came.

“Where were you keeping that?” Saguru called after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished chapters 3 and 4 actually, working on chapter five now.
> 
> This was really kind of to introduce Kaito and Saguru's relationship (because I didn't follow canon), as well as a bit of Shinichi (We will learn more about him in chapter 3) and the Detective Boys. I will try to come back to sometime, because they are adorable and Shinichi needs to hang out with them still, because they were his good friends.


	3. Kaito is confused and Saguru has weird friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaito's busy, and we finally get some updates on Shinichi

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I noticed a huge mistake. At the beginning of Magic Kaito, Kaito is 16, going on 17... so if this takes place 2 years after he becomes Kid, aka the first episode, he should be 18, going on 19... and I have him graduating high school now... so I fucked up. Not sure if anyone else caught onto that. So I'm just gonna say all the teens are a year younger because I'm stupid and I need it to be graduation for my plot and I like the idea of Katio being Kid for 2 years at this point. So excuse that mistake

Kaito returned to a, no surprise, empty house. Mom was in America currently, with some friends. Jii only really contacted him if Kaito did first, other than that he just focused on his bar. Kaito grabbed himself an apple before heading upstairs. He dropped his bag, glancing out his curtains to see if Aoko was home. Her curtains were mostly closed, but open enough for him to see two outlines; probably Aoko and Akako.

Kaito flopped back onto his bed with a sigh, eating his apple. He thought about studying, but he probably wouldn’t be able to focus. He could bother Saguru, but the Brit was probably busy with catching up with studying from his ‘vacation’. Kaito was lucky to even go get ice cream and take a walk with him. Taking up more time would probably hurt Saguru’s exam scores. Maybe go back to the lab, check out the jewel again. It probably hadn’t changed overnight though, but that should probably be a priority so he could return it. However, without anything new to be looking for, what would he even find?

Nothing else came to mind, so Kaito went down to the lab. The first thing he noticed was the shards of a purple gem all over the floor. The next was the black gem, oval shaped just sitting on the table. Kaito cleared his throat, trying to keep calm. He swept up the shards of the gem, pouring them into a bowl. There goes returning the gem. He would just work out the reason for breaking soon.

Kaito picked up the black gem, rolling it over in his hands. The gem was surprisingly warm, like holding his hands in front of a fire. The gem also felt rather heavy and had a soft luster over transparency or shine; onyx was the first gem to pop into his mind. Though this gem was a lot more egg shaped than a half circle, flat bottom stone. He put it back down on the table before picking at some of the biggest shards of the broken gem. Given the breakage, it was safe to assume it fell off the table. Why it fell off, Kaito wasn’t sure. There hadn’t been any movement that would shake the table. The table was completely flat. The gem had been placed half a foot from the edge. No one had been in the lab since he had left last night. Okay, there was no signs of anyone coming into the lab. The only thing Kaito could think of was the gem threw itself off the table and that was just ridiculous. He briefly thought about giving Saguru a call now, but decided getting him invoked in a broken gem from a heist wasn’t a great plan.

\---

“Hakuba’s late,” Heiji huffed. “Being an international detective must be so time-consuming,” he muttered.

“I apologize, I was being held by someone,” Saguru said, strolling up to the table.

“I’m someone,” Kaito added from behind him with a little wave of his before going over to the cafe counter.

“Who’s that?” Heiji asked.

“Friend of mine, Kaito Kuroba. Just ignore him,” Saguru said.

“He was with you when I saw you a couple days ago as well,” Shinichi said. “You don’t really seem like the type to be friends constantly.”

“I get lonely easily. And my friend is making up for lost time with her girlfriend since Saguru was in England, and it’s awkward to make out when your friend is playing a game on the floor,” Kaito explained, settling down four drinks as well as a bagel with cream cheese in front of Saguru and a slice of chocolate cake at his own seat. “But please do your detective hook up talks, I will mostly just play games and make embarrassing comments about Saguru.”

Heiji snorted. “Kind of nice to know Saguru has some less than perfect friends.”

“I’m not perfect, but I will say I’m a second close,” Kaito pouted. Then he started devouring his cake, giving Heiji an evil eye.

“Kaito, leave him alone. No pranks today,” Saguru looked at the other teen.

“Not even hair dye?” Kaito groaned, looking at the blonde.

“Nothing.”

“Fine. How about tomorrow?”

“ _ Kaito _ ”

“Fine,” Kaito huffed. “You are free for the day, but know I’m very petty.”

“Should I ask?” Shinichi looked between Kaito and Saguru.

“He is a magician with a knack for pranks. You learn a lot about chemistry with him. And crossdressing.” The other two detectives stared at him, neither looked like they knew what to say. “... I can send him away if either of you are uncomfortable. He is someone that takes a while to warm up to.” He added.

“I will just take my leave now. Should probably study, plus I should be around to give Aoko an abili about studying,” Kaito snickered. “Bye bye Saguru, don’t get sucked into any murder cases today,” then Kaito was walking out the door.

“... He also goes at his own pace...” Saguru sighed. Shinichi had to wonder about that last comment. He had heard comments similar when he was Conan from a certain thief. However, that would be impossible, Saguru wouldn’t hang out with a thief, unless Saguru hadn’t been two and two together, which Shinichi doubted.

\---

Kaito stepped in his bedroom. He spent most of the day at Aoko’s house, studying in the living room. He easily deflected all of her father’s questions when he called (using Aoko’s voice) and finally came home. He really liked Inspector Nakamori frustrated.

However, he was a bit disappointed that he couldn’t stay for the detective meeting. Okay he could have, but Heiji was already being annoying and Saguru would be on edge more if Kaito was around. Saguru was quite protective of him, which Kaito really liked even if he didn’t need the protection. Kaito wasn’t going to let anyone find out the truth unless he told them directly.

Kaito set his books on the floor, fighting back a yawn. He noticed his laptop was flashing, opening it to see his mom wanted to chat. He accepted the call before flopping into his desk chair. “Hey mom,” he greeted.

“Hey sweetie, how have you been?” She asked with a knowing smile.

“Studying for exams and heists, the usual.” Kaito replied. “How’s America?”

“Warmer than I expected,” she chuckled.

“Not enough tank tops?” Kaito asked, slowly letting some tension melt from his shoulders. He really loved just talking with his mother, however mischievous she was. Well assuming she wasn’t going on and on about things he had heard a million times before. He would talk with her for a couple hours probably before going to bed.

\---

Shinichi was tired. Then again, he was always tired these days. Ever since he got his teenage body back 2 months ago, he was always tired and hungry. His parents stuck around for his first month back, and he also spent a lot of time with Ran. He hadn’t gone back to school for the first two weeks, just getting used to his old life again. Doctors had said he was severely malnourished and probably had moderate depression. The first part made some sense since he was eating for a child’s body over his normal body which was twice the size and weight. He didn’t understand the depression part as well, because things could finally go back to normal for him. No more lies, no more worrying about his friends and family in danger because of him, no more acting like someone he wasn’t.

However, in some ways, he understood why they said that. He didn’t feel as much joy in things as he had before, the world was gray after all the colors Conan had knew. He always felt like sleeping, and slept from ten to noon or later. Any and all detective work was just tiring, he was more sluggish in thinking things through and missing things that were obvious. He also was avoiding the Kid heists, because he just didn’t feel up for it. A normal case was too tiring, what would he do at a heist filled with explosives, smoke, and a sugar-high gentleman thief. He felt guilty for worrying Ran as much as he did, for leaving the Detective Boys without Conan, and for how long it took for him to finally swallow his pride to ask for help. In some ways, Shinichi was happy to be back, but at the same point he couldn’t just hop back into his old life. He had changed, the situation around him had changed. Life hadn’t stopped for him because he was a child again for almost 2 years.

Shinichi quickly wiped at his eyes, noticing the tears. This was also a thing. He had been crying quite often, sometimes for no known reason. He was talking walks with Ran every other day as well playing soccer with the Detective Boys twice a week, and he was having bimonthly ‘Detective’ meetings with Heiji and Saguru. He also had weekly therapy and was on a low dose of antidepressants. He also spent most nights at Ran’s or Agasa’s. Sometimes Ran stayed with him at his house, as his close friend because she had been serious when she stopped waiting for him over 6 months ago.

Shinichi went down to his library. He spent a lot of time in here as well, just reading his days away. He had started reading other genres than mystery, just looking for something to keep his attention for a bit. He also was off and on studying. He was going to graduate a year later than his class, since he had been on a long case. He was mostly just doing self-study though. The teachers gave him the chapters and worksheets; even a few offered to help teach him after school so he could pass the exams next year. He also got copies of some notes from a few classmates. He had a small pile of notebooks that he simply found in the library when he returned to the house. They had a bunch of notes along with summaries and such details and points highlighted. It was someone from another class or school, because no one knew the handwriting. Whoever it was, had a lot of free time, not that Shinichi didn’t really appreciate it.

Shinichi jerked up, dropping his book when he heard his phone buzz. He picked the book up, marking his page neatly and closing it again. Then he grabbed his phone.

**Ran:** How was your nerd meeting?

**Shinichi:** Fine, though Hakuba brought a weird friend at the beginning

**Ran** : Oh really? Was he another detective to join the… club I guess?

**Shinichi:** I don’t think so. Hakuba mentioned he was a magician.

**Ran:** Hakuba, the foreign detective all over Holmes with a time and truth obsession… is friends with a magician?

**Shinichi:** I thought it was kind of weird too, but they seemed to get along pretty well. Lots of teasing, but they were very… comfortable I guess I would say.

_ They almost seemed like how we were before… the case. On the verge of friends and dating.  _ Shinichi couldn’t bring himself to type that though. He couldn’t bring that up. Ran had moved on, Ran was on a path for own happiness. Shinichi couldn’t, wouldn’t mess that up for her.

**Shinichi:** I almost expected his friend to kiss him before he left.

**Ran:** I wouldn’t have guessed Hakuba swung that way…

**Shinichi:** His friend just gave off a mischievous, affectionate kind of air.

**Ran:** I kind of want to meet him, if he impressed you enough that he is your focus of the day over any particular conversations or books.

**Shinichi:** I guess. He was just very different from what I’m used to

**Ran:** If Hakuba brings him for the next meeting, I would be willing to listen to your nerd talk to meet him.

**Shinichi:** I thought you were crushing on Sera now?

**Ran** : Just because I turned down a couple boys, doesn’t mean I like girls Shinichi. Seriously.

**Ran:** Do you suddenly like boys now? It would be like that.

**Ran:** Shinichi… it’s been 10 minutes, are you alright?

**Shinichi:** I might

**Ran:** What?

**Shinichi:** I might like boys now

**Shinichi:** But not just boys

**Ran:** That’s fine if you like boys, or girls, or both.

**Ran:** I didn’t mean to sound mean, but I promise whatever gender you like won’t change my opinion of you.

**Shinichi:** Thanks Ran

\---

Kaito had woken up early, unable to go back to sleep. So he went down into the lab, to check that everything was still in place. However, he found the room a mess. The bowl of purple shards was all over the floor, there was a crack in the record player window, paper plans were all over the room like a tornado came crashing through. Some of the masks had been knocked off the tables and his decoys had fallen off the couch. Finally, his eyes landed on the black onyx like gem, which was cracked in half on the examination table. Had an animal gotten in here? How did this happen overnight? Okay, Kaito had to admit he didn’t check when he got home, so more of 24-hour period. Either way, the room was locked. No one could get in without knowing the secret entry and the password. (It was  _ Conan _ by the way, because no one would guess it. Except for Hakuba probably.)

“Are you mad?” a soft voice asked from behind him. Kaito whipped around, not sure what he was expecting. Whatever, he had been expecting, wasn’t this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger!
> 
> Also here's an outline for how I picture Kid's lair- http://sta.sh/020kcoi8xk8z because I didn't go into details about how it was set up.
> 
> PS: next chapter has another heist :D


	4. Shinichi comes to the heist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title says it all... and a bit of magic as well
> 
> And a bit Saguru-centric this chapter... he is kind of a big dork in my mind behind all that proper detectiveness he has, I mean he's Kaito's friend so of course he's a dork

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit Saguru-centric this chapter... he is kind of a big dork in my mind behind all that proper detectiveness he has, I mean he's Kaito's friend so of course he's a dork
> 
> Also writing a heist, as bad as it probably is was quite fun.
> 
> Also if you noticed that I added a graphic violence warning, a couple chapters from now might get a bit bloody so adding it now

“Shinichi, would you be interested in accompanying me to the Kid heist tonight?” The teen in question looked up, to see Saguru in front of his table. His mouth went dry; he had been trying to avoid going right now. However, he found himself nodding instead. He did miss the rush and fun of the heists, but he wasn’t sure if he could make it through the heist. Guess he would be testing that tonight.

\---

**Saguru:** You owe me now

**Kaito:** No way

**Kaito:** He’s coming!

**Kaito:** I love you

**Saguru:** I would have figured you were in love with him given your obsession with him coming

**Kaito:** No need for jealousy. I can love both of you.  <3

**Kaito:** See you tonight. Bring a change of clothes, it’s gonna be messy  <3

Saguru was not blushing. His heart was not pounding. He was not staring at his phone with heart eyes. He didn’t have a huge crush on the mischievous magician and thief. Except the last four sentences were all lies. He had always been kind of intrigued by the other, from his popularity in the class to his protectiveness of Aoko. He had been intrigued by the teen’s other side as a wild, expressive thief that loved to play chase but hated violence. The battle of wits, keeping a step in front of each other as Kaito tried to steal his target and Saguru tried to stop him, to arrest him.

After a few heists, Kaito seemed to start leaving clues so that he would meet Saguru at some point, to chat. He would poke a bit, listening as Saguru explained his plan from top to bottom, and the flaws, even a couple things that impressed the detective. Kaito would just clap or give him a compliment. Then he would disappear, before Saguru could get the handcuffs out. Saguru had wondered about that, but he realized that Kaito seemed to enjoy his presence at the heists, that he had silently given Saguru a spot on his playlist, where Inspector Nakamori stood at number one player (He had been the longest chaser after all). Saguru even was enjoying the heists, more than just a simple case because Kaito made sure to make all of the experiences unique.

At school, Kaito had wormed his way into Saguru’s social group. He gave Saguru a friend that would keep him up to date with notes and assignments, that always offered him a spot in the group projects. He would actively listen to Saguru, weather it was about a tough case he dealt with the week before or a new Holmes book that just came out. Then Kaito would make an effort to respond, show that he had heard every word and cared about the words Saguru said, even if it wasn’t a deduction about a murder. Kaito invited him to school events like volleyball matches, baseball games, art club galleries, and plays performed by the students. Kaito made sure he had a bit of the high school experience when he wasn’t solving cases and gave Saguru a friend that he could count on.

The Nightmare incident solidified Saguru’s feelings, as Kaito and the phantom thief became one and the same, with definitive proof. The same night, he watched the two blend, was also the night he saw them breakdown. Kaito had felt so guilty for a death he couldn’t have prevented, that someone not only got hurt, but died at his heist. Saguru was technically Kaito’s enemy due to his thieving activities, but Kaito didn’t care about that. He was seeking comfort in his friend, and Saguru could help nothing wrong with that. It took Saguru a bit longer than that to realize the flutter of his heart was the feeling of love. Then a bit more to realize that choking feeling when Kaito talked about Conan was the bitter feeling of jealousy (with a bit of confusion and concern before finding out Conan was Shinichi).

If only he could know if Kaito actually liked him like that, or if he was really just this affectionate with everyone he was close with. That is his million-dollar question.

\---

Kid was supposed to strike in a couple hours,  _ when riches turned back to rags _ . The 2nd division had been guarding the ‘ballroom’ since noon, looking for any tricks Kid might have already set. Saguru had come with Shinichi, shortly after the party began at 8pm. The two of them were consultants for the 2nd division, and were supposed to report anything they found through their earpieces. Both of them stuck out a bit with their outfits compared to the fancy suits and dresses around them. Then again, they weren’t really trying to fit in. Saguru knew Kaito would wanted to see them, and would let them see him so the chase would occur.

Saguru thought he heard someone calling his name, he turned to look for the source. Then he immediately wanted to run, because he did not want to talk with a loud, boisterous dark redhead tonight. Saguru Hakuba! I wasn’t expecting to see you tonight.” Fuck, Saguru was fucked.

Taking a deep breath, he turned to face the smiling woman with a weak smile of his own. “Ku- Chikage, nice to see you,” he said. Shinichi glanced between him and the woman, confused.

“I guess I shouldn’t be  _ too _ surprised. I did see the heist notice in the news earlier,” she continued, chuckling softly before her violet eyes turned to Shinichi. “And who is this?”

“Kudo Shinichi,” Shinichi answered, not sure if it was good or bad that the woman’s eyes lit up.

“Kudo? Oh you must be Yukiko’s boy-”

“Mom!” Chikage pausing, looking over her shoulder where Kaito was rushing up to them. He was dressed down compared to a lot of suits, with only a pink dress shirt and light gray dress pants. He had a huge smile, similarly to the one plastered on Chikage’s face.

“Kaito, I thought you were sticking by the snacks. I found Saguru-” the woman turned to face Kaito more, with the detectives out of her immediate view.

“Mom, you mentioned you wanted to speak with Tomoko Suzuki, I just saw her.” Kaito explained, waving one of his hands away. “And you mentioned networking”

Saguru quickly motioned Shinichi to follow him away from Chikage. Kaito was guiding her back the way he had come, still with that wide smile. “Who was that?” Shinichi asked.

“Kaito’s mother. Not a woman you want to run into, especially when busy,” Saguru sighed. His phone beeped at him, with quite a few more beeps quickly following.

**Kaito:** Consider the debt paid

**Kaito:** Actually can you just buy me some cake

**Kaito:** This is going to be a long night

**Kaito:** You better do amazing at the heist

**Kaito:** Because I will be suffering for a while.

**Kaito:** A long while

**Saguru:** Thank you for getting rid of her

**Saguru** : We can talk cake when you get up tomorrow

**Kaito:** <3

“Who is that?” Shinichi asked, before Saguru jerked his eyes from the screen.

“Kaito, he is in for a long night being dragged around by his mother.” Saguru explained.

“Why did he come get her if he was going to get dragged around?”

“Because his mother would waste most of our time this evening, and he understands that I enjoy detective work over escaping small talk with a middle age woman,” Saguru told him as they weaved through the crowd. “Now, we should try to get a good feel for the room, see if we can deduct Kid’s movements,” the Brit offered. Shinichi agreed.

\---

At the stroke of midnight, the lights cut off for a brief moment. When they came back up, Kaito stood on the stage in his white suit, arms outstretched. “Ladies and gentleman,” he called, bringing attention to him. “Thank you for your patience, the show begins now,” he announced. The guards were rushing to the stage, to capture the ‘trapped’ thief. Kaito just smiled, jumping down from the stage, zooming around the crowd.

“Skates?” Saguru heard Shinichi mutter.

At 12:01, the windows burst open, the wind howling as a couple dozen doves swooped in. The birds dropped a number of multiple colored smoke balls that filled the room. As the smoke began to thin, Saguru heard a loud creak. The ballroom main door from the direction and noise compared to the weight of the door. He caught the billowing of the white cape flying out the door. Saguru rushed after the thief, Shinichi and Inspector Nakamori not far behind.

The skates were abandoned by the stairwell. Nakamori began racing up the stairs, half a dozen guards following him up. Saguru hesitated before he stopped to head downstairs instead. As soon as he reached the next landing, he felt his brown coat being pelted with globs of paint and his shoes sunk into some puddles of what looked like vanilla pudding. However, Saguru was convinced he was going the right way since there was a mess down here like Kaito promised.

At the bottom landing, Saguru stopped though. The tiles on the floor were multicolored and there was a Kaitou Kid note taped to the wall. “ _ The floor is lava. Pirates crowd the beach. Don’t faint in the desert. The abyss is lonely. No valentines for you.” _ Red. Blue. Yellow. Black. Pink. All of the tile colors except for green was mentioned in the note, so was green safe? Looking down the hall, Saguru wasn’t sure if he could jump from green to green without a misstep. He would probably need at least two colors to balance between. All of the colors seemed like warnings; except maybe the black one. The abyss is lonely; could the abyss be friendly?

Saguru didn’t want to dwell too long, Kaito already had a good head start. So Saguru decided to go for greens and blacks, but aim for the greens as much as he could. He got about halfway down the hall, was his foot slipped. Pink. Saguru let out a squeak as a wave of cold, sticky, pink liquid rained down over head. It tasted like strawberry ice cream. This was probably the mess Kaito meant. He kept going, trying to be more careful.

He reached the end and found a split in the hallway. Another note stuck to the corner between the diverging halls said  _ “Take the path least traveled.” _ Which wasn’t a helpful hint. He looked between the two halls, looking for signs of ‘travel’. Finally, he decided on the floor that looked simply cleaner and ran down the hall. He came to a half open back door that led into a back alley. Kaito was simply gone. Saguru sighed, he had been too slow. Even if he ran out in the alley, he wouldn’t find Kaito.

\---

Shinichi was a little annoyed. His clothes, face, and hair were splattered with paint and glitter. He had vaguely noticed Saguru had disappeared as the police headed upstairs with him. They were met with paint being shot at them (fast enough to splatter, but nothing to cause any wounds), confetti and glitter being dumped on them that stuck to the wet paint, and forced to solve riddles. Shinichi would have been fine with the riddles if Inspector Nakamori didn’t charge through them without thinking too hard. Inspector Nakamori was in a maid dress and covered in feathers by the time they made it to the roof. Only to find Kid wasn’t there, but he left them a note spray painted on the roof.

_ Too bad, you went the wrong way! Cindy ran down the stairs home. _

Shinichi just sighed. Of course this was the one-time Kid was going to continue a theme of his note about his escape too. He just ignored the police officers rushing around the rooftop and Inspector Nakamori’s yelling into his radio. He couldn’t help but feel disappointed, this heist hadn’t been much of a chase. Of course that was because Shinichi didn’t pick up the right clues. He wasn’t the Kid Killer anymore.

“Are you sad now?” A soft voice asked, only a foot or so from Shinichi. He looked up, expecting one of the officers checking on him. What he found looked like a tiny floating Kid without the monocle and navy blue hair over the dark brown, black Shinichi was sure the real Kid had. Wait, why was there a tiny floating Kid here? “Diamond?”

“Kudo,” Shinichi looked over at Inspector Nakamori. “Notice anything odd?”

“Nothing that I would call odd for Kid,” the teen replied.

“Let me know if you notice anything off” the Inspector insisted and Shinichi quickly agreed. Then he turned back to look at... the tiny floating Kid was gone now. Did he imagine it?

“That man is kind of scary. And he’s mean to Master,” the voice came from inside his jacket pocket. Tiny floating Kid was nestled there, making a low whimpering noise. He tilted his head back to look at Shinichi. “Diamond, don’t tell scary man about me... please.” Shinichi couldn’t resist those sad indigo eyes.

“Fine, but I want some answers when we leave,” he said quietly, hoping anyone around just assumed he was muttering to himself like he did some when deducting.

“Of course!” The tiny Kid grinned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay this went from 0 to 100 pretty quickly with magic... sorry but I just had to introduce the little guy (his name is Kid btw because it was the first thing Kaito thought of)
> 
> PS: Chapter 6 is complete (not super happy with it, but I needed the story to go on... hopefully I can improve it before I actually post) and I'm working on 7 with some major plotting for a couple later chapters. I'm gonna stay on top of this... hopefully.


	5. Kaito freaks out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title should explain it

“Kid?” Kaito called out. “We are home, you can come out now,” he said. When he got no response, he started to gently feel all of the pockets in his jacket. No odd lumps or squeaks. Kaito dropped his jacket, grabbing his dress shirt from the party; nothing in his pocket. “Kid!” He yelled.

Kaito quickly unlocked the lab, rushing inside. “Kid,” he called again. Shit, shit. Kid had begged to go to the heist with him, promised he just wanted to watch and would stay in his pocket. Kaito thought about the last time he knew he had seen Kid. Kid had been in his pocket, chewing on some cookie crumbs while Kaito did some last minute preparations with his traps. He had been asking about the riddles. It was the dove trap, Kaito remembered. So he last saw Kid near the roof...

Kaito was throwing some clothes on, calling out to his mom that he would be back soon as he ran down the street. He just had to hope Kid had hid, and that no one found him. He didn’t know a lot about Kid yet, but he had gathered the little fairy(?) was a bit timid but was very curious. He also seemed scared of most humans, as they were huge compared to his doll size. Cutting through some back streets, Kaito hoped it was late enough that the police had left the building. He didn’t want to have to sneak past them right now, especially since he left the house without a phone, ID, or anything to disguise himself with.

Kaito thanked whatever gods there were that the police were gone. It was already an hour past the time of the heists, but sometimes they stuck around for a long while. He picked the back door lock, rushing through all of the riddles as he ran up the stairs. He slowed down two flights down from the roof. “Kid?” He called, making sure to not be too loud. He tried a couple more times, shifting to different angles before he repeated up the next flight. Then he creaked up the roof door. “Kid?” No answer. Kaito felt his heart pounding, and his breathing was a bit raggedy. Kid was gone. Someone might have found him, but there was no telling who. Inspector Nakamori could have taken him, I mean Kid was wearing a tiny replica of his own white suit.

Kaito stood there on the roof, shaking for a couple minutes as he tried to calm his heart and keep the tears from falling. He had Kid for only a couple days now, and despite his initial confusion; Kaito was quite attached to the little guy now. He was supposed to be keeping Kid safe till the others awoke too. Now he had no idea where the fairy was, if he was still safe.

Kaito forced himself to leave the roof. He checked every floor, hoping Kid stayed in the stairwells if he was still here by some hope. He didn’t find him, and the magician exited back to the street. He walked back towards his house, regretting not grabbing a coat when he left among others things. He had just passed a phone booth when a thought occurred to him. Maybe Saguru went to the roof, to chat with the police. Maybe, by some chance Saguru found Kid.

Kaito stepped into the phone booth. He removed the number panel, pulling some wires and shifting some stuff. He wasn’t a mechanic, but he was pretty sure he could trick the phone into a free call. When he got it working, he dialed Saguru’s cell phone. He hoped the phone was next to the bed or Saguru simply hadn’t gone to bed yet.

Three rings before Saguru picked up with a groggy “Hakuba Saguru...”

“Saguru,” was all Kaito managed before he started sobbing.

“Kaito?” The detective was growing more aware. “Kaito, what’s wrong? Where are you?”

Panting, Kaito tried to get a word out. “Roof.”

“On a roof?”

“Did you go to the roof?”

There was a pause before it clicked. “No, I didn’t go to the roof. I only went downstairs?”

Kaito crumbled to his knees, clutching the phone tightly. “No,” he whispered, trying to take deep breathes. “No”

“Kaito, where are you? I can come get you now,” Kaito could hear the shifting of fabric, either Saguru was getting out of bed or he was getting dressed.

Kaito took a few deep breathes, easing the pain in his chest. Then he gave Saguru some street names. Saguru kept talking to him, trying to reassure him. Kaito was only half listening though, he barely registered the phone asking for additional change he didn’t have before the line clicked off. He dropped the phone, curling in on himself. He vaguely heard the booth open and felt a pair of warm arms carry him into a warm car. Kaito didn’t say anything, just gripped the coat wrapped around his shoulders.

\---

Shinichi was simply staring at the small Kid who was sitting on the side table near his reading chair. Kid had taken off his hat and jacket, folding them to sit next to him.

“What are you?” Shinichi asked.

“A gem guardian,” Kid answered. “We protect the gems that still have their original powers, or destroy them if our masters are in agreement in them being too dangerous to continue existing.”

“Who is your master?”

“… I can’t answer that question.”

“Why not?” Shinichi frowned and Kid shrunk back a bit.

“I am not allowed to reveal my master’s identity to other humans unless they are proven as one of my siblings’ master.” Kid explained, playing with his tie.

The teen sighed. “But you can confirm you have a ‘master’, right?”

“I do. We only wake up when our master is in our presence.”

“Do you have a name?”

“Of course! Master calls me Kid,” the ‘fairy’’s eyes lit up and he dropped his tie to smile at Shinichi. “I really like the name, it’s personal to him and makes me feel important to him.”

“Why did you call me Diamond earlier?”

Kid’s eyes dropped back to the table and he fidgeted. “I think you might be the master of one of my siblings, Diamond… and I didn’t have another name to call you. I’m sorry for calling you that,” Kid started to babble. He was the opposite of the Kid Shinichi knew, he had no calm compared to the cool gentleman he smiled to hide anything wrong.

“It’s fine. Just call me Shinichi,” the teen said. He didn’t have anything to lose really. He would question it more if Kid was still here in the morning.

\---

Chikage entered her son’s room. There was clothes thrown around on the floor, but other that the room was surprisingly clean. His cleanliness probably was from Toichi, who liked things in order. She picked up the clothes, grabbing his evening wear to wash and folded up the Kid suit. Saguru had left a voicemail on the house phone about a half hour ago, letting her know Kaito was staying with him for the night. He didn’t specify why though.

Chikage opened up the entrance to the lab, carrying Kid’s suit as well as the jewel of the night. The first thing she saw was the record player that Toichi had recorded a number of messages on for Kaito. Along one wall was a number of tools and the other had a couple wardrobes. There were masks and wigs near a couch with four decoys laying on each other. Kaito’s influence had taken over Toichi’s once very neat lair. Now there was a lot more disguises, more masks, wigs, even a makeup box on the craft table. Kaito enjoyed being a master of disguise a lot more than Toichi had.

 

Chikage hung up the suit in one of the dresser and set the gem on a satin pillow on the craft table. Kaito could examine the gem when he got home, see if it was the one he seeked; which Chikage doubted. She turned, task done to head back upstairs when she noticed the sewing supplies was out. Investigating a bit further, the woman was studying some very small outfits fit more for a doll than her son. There were quite a few tiny outfits folded up in a cleaned bento box, with accessories. Chikage chuckled, filing the info away to tease her son later with. She knew he had gotten pretty good at altering second hand clothes and costumes for disguises, but the doll clothes were just a bit ridiculous.

\---

Saguru had ended up staying in one of the guest room with Kaito. The magician hadn’t put up any fight when Saguru changed him into some warm (bit baggy given their different frames) pajamas. He just leaned against Saguru quietly, slowly calming down from his emotional high. Saguru tried not to stare at the bruises littering Kaito’s chest from bullets trying to penetrate his vest every heist. Kaito only moved when Saguru tried to leave him alone tucked into the bed. The detective sighed, letting Kaito hold his hand. His presence seemed to make Kaito relax, letting him be slowly lulled to sleep. Saguru would ask about the cause of the breakdown in the morning, trying not to worry too much. This would be the third time this had happened.

The first time was after Nightmare’s death. Kaito had been horrified at the death right in front of him. Saguru found him sobbing at the house, using his cape as a security blanket. When he noticed Saguru, he put up a bit of a protective wall before finding comfort in Saguru’s warm arms as the detective told him over and over that it wasn’t his fault.

The second time was after Kaito had nearly been killed by the organization that killed Kuroba Toichi. Kaito had made a big blunder that nearly costed his life, and he came face to face with Snake with little defense. Kaito never explained actually what happened or wh helped him, but it had been a traumatic experience. The magician stayed with him for a few days after getting out of the hospital (under a failed hit and run story). Kaito told Saguru about the Pandora during that time, and refused to put his own life over the destruction of Pandora. He also admitted he would turn himself in after he completed his goal; hoping he could beat the clock before he turned 20 so there was a possibility of him getting off more easily. However, Kaito had said if he was sentenced to prison, he would serve his time without complaint.

“Thanks Saguru,” the detective looked at Kaito, these indigo eyes barely open.

“Anytime,” Saguru whispered and the magician gave him a small smile. It took another couple minutes for Kaito to finally fall asleep. Saguru thought about gently pulling his hand away, but then just slid under the covers. He laid awake for another hour or so, just staring at Kaito’s peaceful, but tear soaked face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really liked writing this chapter... sorry Kaito, but I just needed you to freak out
> 
> Kid is probably my favorite character currently, him and Kaito... so expect Kid to be around in anything major happening because I adore him.
> 
> PS. Done with chapter 7, struggling with chapter 8


	6. What does the future hold?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a normal day after a heist, well as normal as you can be in the dcmk universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My first ambiguous chapter title.  
> A bit fillerish, but kind of necessary for how I'm writing currently

Kaito had avoided telling Saguru anything. Kaito kept circling the conversation away from his freak out last night. Saguru had eventually given up the conversation for the moment and they ate their breakfast in silence. Then Kaito quickly took his leave, despite the other’s protests. He felt mostly calm when he got home. He chatted his mom briefly before going up to his room. He found he had quite a few missed calls from Saguru from last night and a couple texts from Aoko earlier this morning. She needed his assistance today; she needed a new outfit for her upcoming anniversary date. He was still worried about Kid, but he didn’t have any leads. He actually might have more chances to find Kid if he went out. So he texted Aoko with a time and she replied with a smiley face.

\--- 

Kid still existed when Shinichi got up at ten am, leaving him with 5 hours of sleep after reading most of the night. Kid was dressed up again, suit put together and had been watching Shinichi quietly as he got up and ready. He texted Ran to let her know he was up earlier than usual. She texted him back a couple minutes later asking if you want to meet for lunch and shopping with her and Sonoko. With a bit of thought, he agreed. There wasn’t a lot else to do, specifically dealing with the ‘fairy’ that was very much real. The only thing he knew was Kid was small, could float, was apparently a gem guardian, and had been separated from his ‘master’; there was a high chance his master was Kaitou Kid as well.

When he left the room, Kid followed him out and down the steps to the first floor. Only when Shinichi stepped outside did Kid stop briefly. However, he simply flew into Shinichi’s jacket pocket. Kid had been silent for most of the morning, and much timider now. He stuck close to Shinichi regardless, probably because he was the safest option. Shinichi wasn’t sure how he was going to explain the tiny fairy if Ran or Sonoko noticed him.

Ran asked him the normal questions. How are you? How did you sleep? Did you take your meds? Etc. Sonoko waited till they finished their opening greetings before she asked for the heist details. Shinichi gave her the details, rolling his eyes as she gusted about the amazing Kid-sama. She kept going for a while as they sat down at a small café.

“Sonoko, I heard you are attending half a year at Tokyo University and then you were going abroad to America,” Shinichi mentioned after their lunch came and Sonoko had calmed from her Kid rant.

“Yup, are you planning to head to Tokyo University next year? Ran’s gonna be there at least,” Sonoko said.

“Probably,” Shinichi nodded. “Which reminds me, I heard Sonoko was bouncing between business and art management, what about you Ran?”

“I’m thinking psychology currently,” Ran answered, catching Shinichi off guard.

“I thought you wanted to go into law like your mom,” Sonoko said, also looking a bit thrown off.

“I did, but I have been thinking these last few months… and I think I want to go in psychology instead. I think our generation has law enforcement covered enough that the lawyers won’t need to struggle too much,” Ran chuckled, which the other two couldn’t argue with.

“So you are looking to analyze brains and behavior now?” Sonoko asked. “It might help to deal with a certain Holmes-obsessed detective,” she teased.

“That wasn’t subtle Sonoko,” Shinichi rolled his eyes at the blonde.

“Wasn’t supposed to be,” she laughed.

 

After lunch, Shinichi ended up being the bag carrier as Sonoko just dumped him with the new outfits she was getting for the quickly approaching days of college. Ran was conserving money a bit more, and carried her own bags thankfully. It was rather peaceful, almost relaxing. Just hanging out with the girls like pretty normal high school students. Sonoko broke that peace when she pointed out someone in the window of one of the shops. “Does that guy look like Shinichi.”

Of course Ran wanted to investigate, so they entered the store. There was the brown haired teen that looked like Shinichi, walking around the racks. He had a small pile of blue, pink, and white dresses on his arm. He was talking to a similar aged girl who was smiling softly. “You’d think you were the one going on a date with how you are acting,” she chuckled.

The male stopped. “I don’t think any of these are my color… maybe blue, but I think I’m more of a dark blue Aoko,” he said.

“Just the color is your concern?” Aoko snorted.

“You have met my mom right? I have worn my fair share of dresses, specifically in the last few years,” he said as he dropped the dresses off with her. “Now change so we can figure out which is best.”

Aoko took the dresses and went into one of the two changing rooms. “He looks like you, but he doesn’t act like you,” Ran chuckled. “Maybe a bit bossy, but other than that.”

Shinichi’s twin turned to look at them and his eyes settled on Shinichi. “Other Holmes nerd! I forgot your name, uh sorry.”

“Kudo Shinichi, your name is Kaito right?” Shinichi asked.

“Kaito Kuroba, hobby magician and fashionista wingman,” Kaito introduced himself. With a flick of his hand, he produced three red roses for them with a stageman’s grin. “And you ladies?” he asked.

“Mouri Ran.”

“Suzuki Sonoko.”

“Kaito, don’t go flirting. Hakuba won’t stand for cheating,” Aoko called from behind the curtains.

“Still not dating Saguru,” Kaito called back, a pout coming over his lips.

“… You pouted in my room for hours because he went back to England without telling you,” she pointed out as she pulled the curtains aside.

“I can platonically pout about anyone I wish. And no on the dress, wrong fit. Try the blue flower one next.”

Aoko shook her head and rolled her eyes, returning to the dressing room.

“So this is Hakuba’s interesting friend,” Ran whispered to Shinichi. “I can kind of get that vibe too.”

“Are you two talking about Hakuba Saguru? The detective trying to capture Kid-sama?” Sonoko asked.

“Yeah, he’s our classmate. Well when he’s in Japan at least he is,” Kaito said. “You said your last name was Suzuki, right? Are you related to that old guy who likes challenging Kid?” he asked. Sonoko’s eyes lit up and she had just been given a legit reason to talk about Kid. Kaito looked surprised about five seconds in, but he just smiled through it. Aoko joined a moment later, dressed in a different dress; arguing that Kid was a horrible criminal. Shinichi wasn’t sure what exactly was being said by the end as both girls just got louder and louder.

After the argument finally ended, Kaito and Aoko left with the blue dress. Sonoko looked around the store a bit before they left as well. It was only then did Shinichi notice Kid had disappeared from his pocket.

\---

When Kaito got home, he was relieved and glad that Kid had shown up in his pocket. He hoped he didn’t squeeze Kid too tight when he realized. Kid apologized a couple times before Kaito got him to stop. Any anger Kaito had before was gone, he was just glad to know Kid was okay. He fed the sluggish fairy some sliced vegetables from the fridge, keeping on an eye on him like Kid would disappear again if he didn’t watch carefully.

After eating, Kid was happy to announce he found Diamond’s master. “He said to call him Shinichi.”

“Did he look kind of like me?” Kaito asked, lifting his eyes from the computer screen.

Kid paused before nodding. “You with blue eyes and less fluffy hair.”

“I am not even surprised actually, that just makes sense for some reason,” Kaito shook his head as he turned his eyes back to the screen. He was looking for his next target; specifically another gem ‘egg’ like Kid. “Shinichi is always getting into crap, weather he tries to or not.”

“... he’s a detective though... detectives don’t normally like you,” Kid said, flying in front of Kaito. “I don’t want you to get hurt!”

“Relax Kid. Saguru’s a detective too, and he likes me fine. Shinichi is a good guy, he doesn’t outright hate me. I can promise you that,” Kaito replied, cupping one of his hands under Kid. The fairy dropped into his palm.

“I don’t want one of my brothers to be involved with someone that might hurt you, even if there’s only a small chance of it,” the fairy mumbled.

“It’s gonna be okay. I have worked with Shinichi for the greater good before. Don’t worry too much about it, alright?”

“Okay,” Kid agreed.

\---

“Crazy to think that we are not in high school anymore,” Kaito sighed.

“We graduated less than an hour ago and you are already like this?” Aoko groaned.

“Yup,” Kaito grinned at her.

“Just ignore him Aoko, he will stop talking if you ignore him long enough,” Saguru teased.

“No, I will just get louder and louder,” the magician stuck his tongue out at the detective.

“Why do we invite you anywhere these days?” Aoko sighed.

“Because you love me so much,” Kaito made a kissy face at her before his expression broke into laughter. Aoko just rolled her eyes at him, smiling as well. “Plus your dad still thinks we are dating.” he added with a snort.

“I don’t know why we can’t just stay childhood friends, why are we expected to date,” Aoko pouted at the reminder.

“Who knows. But makes a good cover for your actual girlfriend,” Kaito pointed out.

“True,” Aoko nodded.

“Congrats on your half year anniversary Aoko,” Saguru added. “I heard you two are celebrating with an all day long date tomorrow.”

“Yeah! Kaito helped me pick out a great outfit and we got all kinds of plans. It’s gonna be amazing,” Aoko perked up before she started to tell the boys all about the special day she had planned.

\---

 **Aoko:** Kaito where are you?

 **Aoko:** You said you would be here early!

 **Aoko:** Akako’s gonna be here soon

 **Aoko:** Kaito!

 **Aoko:** This isn’t funny

 **Aoko:** Aoko’s coming over asshole

Aoko stomped over to the next door house, unlocking the door with the spare key. The house was quiet, but she just marched up the steps. She opened Kaito’s door and stopped. There was blood on the floor. The room was a mess. The window was smashed. Kaito was gone…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh no  
> Guesses on where Kaito is? If he was taken, by who? If he left himself, why?
> 
> Also be prepared for angst. ;)


	7. Kaito almost dies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Key word is almost

Kaito slowly blinked his eyes out to a dark room. His body felt heavy and his head was fuzzy at best. He heard a loud rattling when he tried to move his arms. Where was he? He couldn’t remember exactly. “Master…?” the soft voice made Kaito straighten up a bit.

“Kid?” he mumbled, scanning the darkness for the little fairy. He felt little pats on his chest. Looking down, he saw Kid’s eyes glowing in the dark from inside his shirt. Other than the bright blue eyes, Kaito couldn’t make out the rest of Kid’s body. “Where are we?” Kaito noticed it was hard to make his mouth move.

“I… I don’t know. Some people attacked. I was- am really scared master,” Kaito faintly noticed little nails digging into his chest.

The magician tried to tug his hands towards his chest, trying to grab hold of Kid, to try and comfort him. However, his hands barely moved at all from their restrained position. He tilted his head against his shoulder so he could watch Kid more easily. “It’s gonna be okay. We are gonna be okay Kid,” he mumbled.

The dark room lit up with light from a door opening. The door hit the wall with a bang, making Kaito flinch slightly at the noise. Kid squeaked, his eyes closing and Kaito didn’t know where he was exactly now. He couldn’t feel Kid’s hands or warm presence anymore around him now.

“Looking pretty dazed Kid,” a voice snickered from somewhere in the bright light of the doorway. “Guess you aren’t tolerate to drugs, are ya?”

Kaito bared his teeth, blinking in hopes his vision would clear. When his eyes adjusted a bit, all he saw was a wicked grin as a needle pierced his skin. He gasped for breath as everything went black.

\---

It had been a few days now. Master was constantly in and out of sleep. When he was awake, he was being mocked and hurt. Kid refused to leave his side. He always took the aches and pains away once the two of them were alone. Kid couldn’t heal master without suspicion, but Kid won’t leave master in pain like that. Today, however was different. Master was still out when the men came in. They had a new weapon compared to the sharp needles, blunt batons, and snapping whips. They had a gun. A gun wasn’t a torture weapon, it was a kill weapon. Kid sunk down in master’s filthy pant pocket, staring at the gleaming silver of the weapon. They were going to kill master now, and there wasn’t much Kid could actually do. Kid was weakened by hunger and lack of sleep. He couldn’t stop bullets. Kid shook a bit as he watched the gun being pointed at master’s unprotected chest; pointed right at master’s heart.

Bang.

Kid felt master’s body jerk back at the force of the shot. Despite the darkness, Kid could see the blood staining the shirt around the hole. Master’s breathing stuttered and sped up.

Bang.

The gasp of pain made Kid close his eyes. No, no, no. Kid opened his eyes to see more red on his master’s body. The two bullet holes leaked like a flood as well as blood being expelled from the mouth and nose as well. The heart was far too damaged for master to survive much longer than a few minutes if that. Kid flew out of the pocket, jerking a little bit at the sudden flight. He flew behind his master, up to the back of his shoulder blades.

Bang.

A third shot. They were being overly cautious. Kid pressed his little hands against master’s rapidly chilling skin. He focused his power and everything changed. The beating of the heart turned to a roaring thump in Kid’s ears. Instead of black, everything was in shades of red. Kid shook his head, focusing again. Seal the bullet holes. Save as much blood as he could. Produce rapid scar tissue for the heart and surrounding tissue. Keep the heart beating. Keep the blood circulating. Keep the brain alive. Keep master from dying. Success was the only option.

\---

Kaito tried to take a deep breath and suddenly felt like he was choking. His arms flailed, his legs kicked, his chest burned. Then he could breath. His body ached as he panted in the middle of a river. His memory was fuzzy. Where was he? What happened? What was up with his heart? He could hear the beating in his ears. Kaito started to push his way through the water, heading for the shore. His vision spotted in and out, and he kept panting as he forced his way onto the sand. With his torso out of the water, all of his strength drained out of his body. His heart rate was slowing down. Was he dying? Would this shore be his last sight? Would he have to leave the world barely a high school graduate? Would he have to die without truly being with someone he might have loved? Was it simply his time to die?

His head flopped to the side, rapid blinking at the spotty shore. A guttural scream ripped from his lips, dying off with a series of coughs. He thought he heard footsteps coming towards him, but everything went black and silent.

\---

Saguru had been awaken by his phone going off. The message made the tension in his shoulders melt away as he rushed to throw on some clothes. They found Kaito. He was alive. Not in good shape, but  _ alive _ . He was out of the house without breakfast in a matter of minutes, headed to the hospital.

When he entered the room, he felt that tension rocket back up. Kaito was laying in the white bed, chest barely moving up and down with his breathing. His skin was pale and covered in ugly marks. His arms were at his side like a log, unlike his normal self asleep sprawled out like a cat in the sun. He almost looked dead, but Saguru knew otherwise. Shaking away the tunnel vision, Saguru noticed a red eyed Chikage and a sobbing Aoko. Inspector Nakamori was standing a bit off to the side, but he looked quite upset as well; Kaito was basically his other child at this point. Akako was standing by the window, staring out with an intense look of thought. The witch and Saguru were the only ones who truly knew about Kaito’s night time activities. Chikage probably didn’t know her son was at the same risk as his father; Kaito wouldn’t have worried her with that. Neither of them could tell that reason to the police though, not without revealing the injured teen’s secret.

“How is he?” Saguru suddenly spoke, startling the room into noticing his presence.

“Beat up, but he will survive.” Chikage answered, looking over at him. She had been crying quite a bit earlier, he could tell. “He should be awake soon given his personality,” she added with a forced smile, her tone implying she was hoping she was right.

“We are investigating what happened now. When he wakes up, we can get a statement,” Inspector Nakamori said. Saguru noticed he said ‘when’, not ‘if’; no one would wish death on Kaito. He was well loved in his civilian persona. He was also cheered on quite a bit for his thief antics by the public.

Saguru nodded. “Let me know if I can be of assistance,” he said. Inspector Nakamori gave him a sad smile and agreed.

“Hakuba, would you mind helping me get some drinks for the others.” The blonde tried not to jump when Akako was suddenly right there.

By the look in her scarlet eyes, Saguru couldn’t say no. “Of course.”

They walked out of the room, Akako leading him into a secluded stairway. “Have things changed at the heists?” she asked, turning to face him.

“I noticed there was a lack of snipers at the ball, and they weren’t any mysterious gunshots at the heist before that in the reports,” Saguru told her. “I hoped they were giving up… but that isn’t the case.”

“They must have figured out his civilian identity. Why continue failure at the heists if they could take him out when he didn’t have all of his gadgets and tricks on hand,” Akako sighed. “Of course heartthe fact he came back alive doesn’t make sense if it was them.”

“They do seem very through. They wouldn’t let him go until they were sure he was a corpse. So could he have escaped despite those wounds?” Saguru suggested.

“Possibly. However, he was found soaked and barely breathing. I kind of doubt he could have move much, let alone actually sneak out,” the witch pointed out. There was a moment of silence before she continued. “I guess we will have to keep an eye out and hope the Inspector figures out something. I have already set up a barrier, it should keep him safe for the duration of his stay.”

\---

“Kid...” Kaito muttered. It was dark outside; everyone was gone except for his mother sleeping in a side chair. He raised his hand slowly to pull the oxygen mask away from his face. “Kid,” Kaito said a bit louder with a cough. He gasped as he felt his heart stutter as Kid materialized from under his thin hospital shirt, right above his heart. The little fairy crawled out slowly, staring at Kaito’s face before shifting his eyes to the heart monitor. Other than the initial stutter, the heart rate was normal, if only slightly below average.

“You lived,” Kid smiled widely.

“... yeah, I did,” Kaito nodded, noticing Kid was the one breathing hard right. “... You alright?”

“Yes master. Just tired now,” Kid said, suppressing a yawn.

Kaito slowly raised his hand, stroking Kid’s hair with two fingers. “Thanks for your hard work, Kid. I wanted to talk to you for a minute, but after that you can go to sleep.” Kid frowned a bit so Kaito continued. “I’m in the hospital now. The doctors can take it from here. I’m gonna be okay.” Kid slowly nodded before grabbing onto Kaito’s fingers that had been petting him. He held them against his cheek. It seemed to relieve him, so Kaito made no move to take his hand back.

“What did master want to talk about?” Kid asked after a long moment of silence.

“I think I figured out the last member. So I’m gonna contact the three of them. Tell them the situation. Then find the other suits,” Kaito explained.

“... Spades likes you... but Diamond is a detective...” Kid stopped. “Who’s Clubs?” he asked.

“You don’t know him, so you can’t really judge yet. He’s an acquaintance of mine though,” Kaito said. Kid nodded. “Anyway, you should get some sleep now,” the magician added, stroking Kid’s cheek. Then the fairy shifted into the crook of his neck, the skin ship seemed to help him sleep. Kaito laid awake for another half hour, plotting out the details of the meeting and what to say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was plot heavy. The next few chapters will probably very plot heavy.
> 
> Also I only have one more chapter complete at the moment, so after chapter 8, updates will probably be a lot slower. Because my momentum has slowed down a lot. I have the general outline planned, but actually writing it out is proving to be a pain. Thoughts to words is hard :(


	8. Kaitou Kid dies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaito does what he said he was going to do last chapter. He contacts the others

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone is wondering, chapter 7's title and this title are relevant... and it was hilarious when I was naming them.

“Guessing you two also got the same message?” Saguru asked, looking over at the other two detectives with a sigh.

“Seems so,” Heiji said, almost pouting. He was okay with Saguru at times, but he thought

this was gonna be just him and Shinichi today.

“Come on then,” Shinichi walked up the stairs, into the building. The other two followed

him in.

There were only two people in the room when they entered; an older man behind the bar and

a young woman half asleep on her stool. Kaito had to be one of them, or hidden elsewhere in the room. “Welcome,” the old man announced.

The woman sat up a bit, stretching out as he looked over at them with a smile. “Saguru, you are 32 seconds early. I’m disappointed in you,” he said with a chuckle.

“... you didn’t even try to hide,” Heiji looked a bit surprised.

“No need Tantei-han. I asked you three here to talk,” Kaito chirped, standing up.

“And what if we brought the police with us?” Shinichi asked.

“You didn’t,” Kaito shook his head. “Where would the fun in that be? Anyway, sit down. I will explain.”

Saguru was the first to sit down, shaking his head slightly. Shinichi followed next and Heiji muttered something before joining them. The old man gave each of them a mug of coffee before he left the room with a worried glance back at Kaito.

“I guess the best place is to start with that I’m the 2nd Kaitou Kid. My father was the previous one before his murder ten years ago. He was killed by a group I’m calling the Syndicate. They used to be a subgroup in the Black Organization quite some time ago, but they broke off from the Organization to pursue their own goals.” Shinichi’s shoulders had tensed up at the mention of the Black Organization. “The Syndicate’s main goal is gaining immortality using a gem called the Pandora. I’m also searching for Pandora, but I want to find it to destroy it. All we really know is the Pandora is a smaller red gem in the center of another gem and can be seen through moonlight.”

“So you are stealing jewels looking for the Pandora?” Heiji interrupted.

“Yes. So far, simply stealing gems one by one isn’t working too well. I have a new plan; however, I can’t complete it by myself.”

“And you are asking for our help?” Shinichi asked.

Kaito froze for a second before nodding. “Yeah.”

“Don’t you have accomplices? Why come to detectives?” Shinichi pressed.

“I need certain people for this,” Kaito started before sighing. “One second actually,” he said before he reached into his shirt.

Saguru sputtered a bit as Kaito pulled out a small creature out of his bra. The small human yawned and blinked at the detectives. “Master figured out who clubs was too!” Kid called, grinning.

“What is that?” Heiji asked, staring at the tiny human dressed in a Kaitou Kid outfit.

“Who is he?” Kaito corrected with a glare before looking back down at the fairy. “Kid, can you explain to them about you and your siblings? I don’t know exactly how to word it,” he asked.

“Of course!” Kid stood up on Kaito’s palm. “My siblings and I are considered Gem Guardians. We protect and destroy powerful gems throughout history. We are quite selective of our masters. They need to have certain traits and abilities on their own. I’m the heart and master met my requirements. I can sense the three of you are my siblings; spades, diamond, and clubs’ masters.”

“Does that make sense?” Kaito asked.

“… Not really,” Heiji replied.

“The other guardians only awaken when their master is nearby, correct?” Shinichi asked. The other detectives’ head whipped around to look at him. Shinichi refused to shrink back despite the sudden attention.

“Yeah, that’s correct. I’m currently looking for the other gem egg whatevers. I think I figured out where one is, but can’t be sure yet,” Kaito shrugged. “And Tantei-kun found Kid at the last heist where I lost him,” he added.

Saguru’s eyes lit up as the reason for Kaito’s panic that night dawned on him. “So you expect us to work with you? Detectives working with a thief?” Heiji asked.

“No. I would like you three to comply, but I can’t force you into anything,” Kaito answered.

“I will help,” Shinichi said. Everyone looked a bit surprised. “You have done quite a bit for me without asking for much in return,” he explained.

“I guess I don’t have much to lose. Plus I don’t trust you alone with Shinichi,” Heiji groaned.

“He won’t have been alone with me. Saguru wouldn’t let me do anything to Shin-chan,” Kaito chuckled.

“I haven’t agreed yet,” the blonde pointed out.

“You agreed when you let me stay over. On multiple occasions I might add,” Kaito replied.

“Do you two know each other?” Shinichi asked.

“Of course, he’s tantei-san.”

Shinichi frowned. “I meant your civilian persona.”

“That too. He had the advantage of knowing both sides so he caught on quickly,” Kaito explained. “Which brings on my next point. If we are working together, I should probably properly introduce myself.” he said as he pulled the black wig and glasses off and snapped his fingers. A puff of smoke later and Kaito Kuroba stood before them, still in his disguise dress and heels. “Kaito Kuroba, magician and part time thief,” he smiled at them, letting Kid down onto the bar counter.

“Somehow I feel like that was actually expected,” Shinichi sighed. “Given Hakuba mentioned chemistry, which Kid uses quite a bit for his tricks and crossdressing, which again Kid likes to do.”

“I look good in a dress,” Kaito shrugged before waving at Kid. “and my current partner, Kid.” The little human waved at the others.

“So what’s our first step?” Saguru asked.

“For you guys, nothing really yet. I still have to locate and steal the other gem eggs.” The magician said before adding with a snort. “I doubt any of you have enough knowledge about jewels to do a good search.”

“Do you have any leads at least?” Heiji asked.

“Yup, Kid has told me the gems his siblings would make likely appear in. Plus he can sense them to an extent, so we can confirm with walk arounds,” Kaito told them.

“And you mentioned you knew where one was already,” Saguru said.

“I think so. Kid’s pretty convinced that Diamond would take that shape. We haven’t done a walk around yet to confirm though since it’s down in Nagasaki,” Kaito said.

“Are you doing the walk around to confirm or sending the note out regardless?” Shinichi asked.

“I’m not sending a note,” Kaito said. At three surprised looks, he continued. “The Syndicate believes Kaitou Kid is dead now, plus the notes were mostly to lure them out anyway. So Kaitou Kid won’t be making any appearance for a while. Same with Kaito Kuroba, he’s dead to them and kidnapped to the rest. Someone _new_ will steal these gems.” The magician looked rather serious as he explained, all of which made sense in a way.

“Who?” Heiji asked.

Kaito smiled, an easy going one. “I’m thinking of doing a magic girl theme for my new thief persona. I mean I already got a little fairy partner, might as well keep the theme going.”

\---

“What is wrong with you?” Kaito glanced up to look at the furious redhead.

“Probably a lot of things,” the thief shrugged. “But Kaito being gone is safer for everyone right now.”

“So you leave a note saying you got kidnapped by yourself,” Akako sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

“Yeah. Everyone knows Kid isn’t violent, I can use the excuse he was protecting me from being attacked again since I’m his number one fan or something,” Kaito explained.

“Kaito…”

“I’m going to get a disposable phone and call Aoko tomorrow, let her know I’m alright. I promise.”

“Fine,” the witch gave in. “Who all knows you aren’t kidnapped then,” she asked.

“Jii-chan, mom, Saguru, and the great detectives of the west and east,” he said, starting to type on his laptop again.

“You told two detectives that?” Akako looked like she was getting a headache just staring at him.

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“They are new allies. They know most of the story and have agreed to help. Just mostly more lawful than I normally do.”

Akako just shook her head. “Don’t get arrested, or Aoko won’t be the only one beating you up.” The door slammed shut. Kaito sighed, trying to focus back on his research. He found a couple jewels that might match the Spades egg, but Kid was sleeping peacefully. Kaito wasn’t going to disturb the restful sleep if he could help it.

After a couple minutes of fruitless work, Kaito gave up on the research for the night. Instead, he went to raid the closet of clothes he got Jii to get from his lab. Time to figure out his new outfit. He would make sure to take pictures for Saguru’s opinion. Maybe send Shinichi and Heiji the final results.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't made much progress in the story since I put up chapter 7, but I will finish the story. It might take a year and infrequent updates. But I will. I have the outline. I just need to put words on the page. Estimating 15-20 chapters in the story btw
> 
>    
> Also kind of relevant for future chapters (Because I would love some help with brainstorming): For the Gosho Boys, are there any lessons or challenges you think they need to face? Or even negative traits that slow them down?  
> For example, Shinichi is arrogant and very showy at the beginning of the series. As Conan, he has to rethink a lot of the things he did before since he is a child.


	9. Everything Is Gray

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His hair, his smoke, his dreams
> 
> Just some stuff to move the plot along

“So how long did you know for?” Heiji asked.   
Saguru just sighed before answering. “I had my suspicions from the beginning, however I confirmed it after the dark knight heist.”   
“The nightmare incident?” Shinichi asked.   
“Yes...  the incident left Kaito very shaken up,” Saguru explained. “We had a silent agreement that I would only pursue him during heists, the rest time he was simply Kaito Kuroba.”   
“I won’t have thought you would be willing to ignore a criminal.” Shinichi had a funny half smirk, half smile. He was amused to say the least.   
“This is a special situation,” the blonde promised. Then the detectives’ phones all buzzed, almost simultaneously   
**???:** Keep an eye on Kaito if you value your sanity.   
**???:** If anyone kills him, it will be me once he is no longer needed.   
“... who the fuck is this?” Heiji asked.   
“I would assume it would be our unfriendly witch friend. She and Kaito are allies of sorts,” Saguru sighed.   
“... She just said she would kill him,” Heiji pointed out.   
“Witches and magicians don’t get along since witches have actual magic powers unlike magicians. She hasn’t tried to kill him in the last 16 months so he isn’t in any danger currently.” The blonde paused before adding. “She is also dating Kaito’s best friend, so she probably will simply be protective for her girlfriend’s emotional wellbeing.”   
“So probably not a danger?” Shinichi asked, which Saguru confirmed with a nod.   
\---   
“I’m fine Aoko, really,” Kaito promised.   
“Kid took you! How is this fine?” Aoko snapped, sounding like she might be crying or close to starting again.   
“He isn’t going to hurt me. He said I got attacked by some enemies of his. He is making sure they don’t come after me again.” Poker face, don’t let Aoko convince you to leave. This is for the best.   
“Kaito-”   
“I need to get off now. I’m fine. If anything happens, Kid promised he would inform you and your father first thing,” Kaito cut her off. There was a moment of silence before Aoko spoke up again.   
“Don’t die on me Bakaito... I love you,” her voice barely a whisper.   
“Love you too Ahoko.” Kaito heard his voice crack before he hung up. He took a couple minutes to collect himself before sending a dove to dispose of the phone. His gaze slowly moved to Kid who was still asleep next to his laptop curled up in a couple handkerchiefs. He should probably wake up Kid and get him something to eat. Then check ticket prices down to Nagasaki.   
\---   
Shinichi opened the door which rung to announce his presence. The old man was the only one in the bar this time, cleaning some glasses. He glanced at Shinichi briefly, but said nothing. The detective stood near the door awkwardly before deciding to speak up. “Is Kaito still here?” he asked.   
“Upstairs, first door on the left,” the old man said, without looking up.   
Shinichi nodded his thanks before heading upstairs. He thought briefly about knocking, but decided against it. He opened the door and he heard Kaito sigh at the sound. “Coming to yell at me for being rash, Saguru,” he asked, not turning around. He was sitting at a desk, typing on a laptop with a focused posture.   
“Not Hakuba,” Shinichi said.   
Immediately Kaito’s chair turned around, surprised violet eyes focused on the detective. “Tantei-kun... what do I owe this visit to?” he asked, dropping his expression back to his classic poker face.   
“I wanted to talk with you. I have some more questions-” the detective explained.   
“Q&A is after I get the other suits. You have no reason to be further involved till then,” Kaito cut him off. “If that’s all, out please. I will contact you later.”   
Shinichi frowned. “I won’t leave,” he stated.   
“Well I’m not answering questions right now Tantei-kun. Stay, but I’m not sharing anything,” the thief shrugged before turning back to his computer. Now scowling, Shinichi walked further into the room. The door shut behind him as he looked around the bare room. There was a rolled up futon in the corner and the desk Kaito was working at. Nothing marking the room as personal or even used before the thief crashed here two days ago. The detective took a couple more quiet steps, noticing Kid asleep in a bundle of handkerchiefs. Sliding his eyes over the bright laptop screen, he eyed multiple tabs with gem sites and a couple train sites.   
Shinichi stood, watching Kaito in silence for almost ten minutes before he spoke up again. “Can I at least ask what your plan is after you destroy the Pandora?”   
The thief paused his research, shoulders freezing up with some tension. Whatever the thief had been expecting, wasn’t Shinichi being concerned about what was after all this. He licked his suddenly dry lips and sighed quietly. “Not completely sure. I don’t have the connections to shut down the Syndicate like you did to the Organization,” he answered slowly, staring down at the keyboard. “But Kaitou Kid will need an actual end, weather he disappears or is arrested is undecided.”   
“Arrested?” Shinichi exclaimed.   
Kaito spun his chair around to face Shinichi. “Tantei-kun, I am a _ criminal _ .” Kaito punctuated. “And criminals must serve their time,” he continued. When Shinichi just continued to gape at him, Kaito laughed. “You and Saguru aren’t very good detectives if you want me to remain free while I have committed more crimes than I can count anymore.”   
“You aren’t a criminal,” Shinichi spitted out and the thief raised his eyebrows.   
“Then what am I?” Kaito asked, crossing his arms.   
The detective had to pause, because what else accurately described Kaitou Kid? “A showman,” he finally said. “You are an entertainer. In some cases, you have been an ally to the police force, helping guide them to those who  _ truly _ hurt people.” Kaito scuffed. “You showed up to help your rival save Lupin, because he asked you to,” Shinichi snapped. “You are not like most of the criminals we see every day. The world isn’t black and white, Ki- Kaito.”   
Kaito made a surprised noise from hearing his name from Shinichi’s mouth. It sent a shiver down his spine, just like being called Kid by tiny Conan used to make him feel. Shaking his head, Kaito refocused on the conversation. “Black, white, or gray; that isn’t for you to decide. One person can’t define me as an honest man or a con man. That is the job of a court. You can only supply evidence to support what you want to happen.” Swallowing, Kaito decided this was becoming too much. “Could you please leave now, Shinichi,” he said quietly.   
Shinichi looked like he wanted to argue, but for one reason or another, just nodded and left the room. After the door clicked shut, Kaito rested his face in his palms. Breath in and breath out. Shinichi didn’t know what kind of effect he had on Kaito. He didn’t realize what it meant to Kaito. To know people cared for him despite his activities. Breath in and breath out. The thought hurt his heart though, so the thief tried to push it out of his mind. This was all theoretical until he actually accomplished his goal. No sense getting all emotional now.   
\---

_ “Everything costs something,” a disembodied gruff voice snapped. _

_ “What do you want for it?” a second silvery voice spoke. Akako recognized this one; it was Kaito. _

_ The gruff voice started to chuckle, Akako could feel the dark grin stretching on the unknown face. “A life for a life of course.” _

_ “... A life for... what do you mean?” Kaito seemed confused and that chuckling got louder, turning into a full blown laugh. _

_ “You don’t know what you are getting into, boy.” The laugh died down as the voice spoke again with a condescending tone. “I will give you a hint since you worked so hard little thief. Who is Pandora?” _

_ “Pandora?” Kaito said slowly, his violet eyes appearing in the darkness just before a booming shot left Akako’s ears ringing. A circle of red splashed out, about chest height on Kaito. All the shadows fell away to reveal the thief being tossed back by the piercing shot. _

_ “Work fast boy,” the disembodied voice teased. “That shot will bleed you out in minutes. This one won’t heal.” _

_ Akako couldn’t move, could barely even breath. She just had to sit there and watch Kaito pant out a breath, seeing those pained violet eyes trying to focus. “A life for a life?” he spoke slowly after a moment. “I will pay it,” he wheezed out. _

_ That dark laugh was back and louder than ever. “Good choice.” _

  
Blinking, Akako swallowed back Kaito’s name that was on the tip of her tongue. That was... it felt more real than most of her ‘prophecies’. It wasn’t very cryptic either, well at least it didn’t seem so. Kaito would suffer if he continued this path towards Pandora. Worse actually, he was probably on his path to death with this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I forced myself to finish this chapter today since it's my last day off from work for a week because jumping around on random AUs isn't helping either. Going to try to get at least half of chapter 10 done tonight, but how that will work out is not yet determined. Gay fanfic has been taking up quite a bit of time...
> 
> Still seeking answers to the question posed last chapter... I posted it below for convenience... please help me.
> 
> Also kind of relevant for future chapters (Because I would love some help with brainstorming): For the Gosho Boys, are there any lessons or challenges you think they need to face? Or even negative traits that slow them down?  
> For example, Shinichi is arrogant and very showy at the beginning of the series. As Conan, he has to rethink a lot of the things he did before since he is a child.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry the chapter's so short... I work best in short bursts with stream of consciousness writing. Second chapter is also mostly done, but I won't post that till I have at least an outline of 3 and 4... since I wrote this chapter this afternoon, I want to make sure I will continue before posting more.  
> Also if you read 'Kaito Loses His Cool', I'm kind of on it... hoping to get something done before Wed.


End file.
